We’ve been loving all the great reports from VegasCon, and the amazing photos that have been posted – thank you, fandom, for always sharing the pretty. This con had so many great moments, both onstage and off. We caught up with fangirl and fanboy friends from all over the world, relishing in the ability to have actual face to face conversations over lunch instead of just exchanging 120 character tweets or occasional email or facebook exchanges. Cons are wonderful for the chance to see the guests up close and sort-of-personal, but they’re at least as wonderful for the chance to connect with other fans and share your enthusiasm for Supernatural.

We were especially touched that so many of you came up to tell us that reading ‘Fandom At The Crossroads’ had validated your experience of being an SPN fan, in addition to giving some insights into what Jared, Jensen, Misha, Kripke, etc. feel about fans and the show. It means so much to us that you enjoyed the book!

And then there was the con itself. What a fantastic group of guests! I think we were smiling the entire time. We are so not photographers, but we thought it would be fun to post our quick pictorial-and-captions review of VegasCon.

The fun began with Richard Speight Jr., who proved himself a song and dance man as well as a kickass emcee for the entire weekend (see photo evidence above).

Emily Perkins set the tone for what was truly a Fangirl Weekend! Stay tuned for our interview with Emily, who is super smart, savvy, and totally gets being a fangirl.

Emily Perkins aka Becky the Fangirl

And yes, she did say that her favorite song was “I Wanna f- You Like An Animal,” which made Rob Benedict do a double take. We’re still laughing.

“Becky!” “Chuck!” *hearts*

Chad Lindberg and Gabe Tigerman made the ‘reciprocal relationship’ with the fans literal, as so often happens at cons – here’s Chad directing Gabe and a fan in an improv with the fan-provided and promptly misunderstood but somehow perfect anyway title “Mancakes”.

Chad gets casual while he takes questions. Love the outfit!

James Patrick Stuart demonstrated how he got the part of Dick Roman by putting on some false teeth that gave him that trademark snarky snarl. Amusingly, his kids seem to think they’re funny. NOT!

Matt Cohen and Rob Benedict competed to see who had the sexiest ankles. Both were pretty damn nice, in our humble opinions.

Then Matt jumped into the audience to grab a fan’s camera and take some photos. Way to be helpful, cast!

Next up was Misha Collins, who loves to alternate between sincere and tongue-in-cheek, often so quickly that half of us are left going, “Wait, what?”

“Wait, what?” may well be what Richard is thinking below, as Misha greets him exuberantly. As you do.

Below: Serious!Misha listens intently to a fan’s question. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that his answer was serious….

There were so many fans in trenchcoats that Misha invited them all onstage to “frolic” with him. The Dance of the Castiels was both appropriately awkward and kind of awesome.

Below, Jared and Jensen at the gold lunch, which actually had a delicious spread of food but was a horror for photos due to the harsh lighting and an inexplicable 50 foot demilitarized zone between the boys and the fans. Presumably the DMZ would allow security time to tackle all the out-of-control (adult women) fangirls who might make a run for the stage at any moment. Because that happens all the time. Oh wait.

J2 onstage. Jared says something funny. Jensen grimaces (and tries his best not to crack up). You get the feeling this scene plays out on set about a zillion times a day, although undoubtedly with the roles reversed sometimes.

For those of you who were wondering about the patch on Jared’s jeans. Not that we noticed. No way.

Below: Misha crashes the J2 show. Jared gestures. Misha grins. Jensen sticks out his tongue. We totally cannot remember what they were saying, but this picture is amusing us anyway.

Misha joins the band. One of the things that made VegasCon so extraordinary was having the Elastic Waste Band onstage the whole time. You never knew what would happen, or when one of the guests would spontaneously decide to demonstrate their musical prowess. Or something.

Storytime. Below, Jared listens to Jensen tell him a story. (Yes, we were saying ‘awww’ at this moment).

Jared. When he’s listening to you, you can tell he’s listening with ALL of him. It’s sort of breathtaking.

Jared once said that Jensen looks like he’s ten years old when he smiles. No wonder we can’t help smiling back.

Jensen poses for Kathy (below). At least that’s how she interpreted this. Don’t disabuse her of her fantasies.

Jared’s smile lights up the entire friggen’ room. Not even a metaphor.

Next: Contemplative Jensen. ‘Nuff said.

Master of Ceremonies Richard Speight Jr. points out that Jared is awesome. Which we already knew.

Below: Jensen and Rob Benedict rock out with ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’. To say the boys were in a good mood is a serious understatement!

Richard, Jensen and Rob singing their hearts out. By this time, the entire audience was singing along and the sense of euphoria in the auditorium was just about overwhelming. Can something bad happen to you if you smile too widely for too long??

Below, Samantha Smith and Julie McNiven find creative ways to sit in those horrible chairs, proving that they are flexible both physically and mentally. No wonder they’ve been able to play so many versions of Mary and Anna so convincingly.

Sam and Julie, meet Jim Beaver and his bearded sidekick (and wonderfully free-spirited) daughter. This is one of those moments that’s pure SPN – everyone is family, both onstage and in the audience.

Next up: Sebastian Roche crouches down to get closer to fans while he answers a question. Actually he never really answers a question, but whatever he says is so bloody entertaining that you don’t really care.

Sebastian amusing himself. And us.

Next, fans had their turn onstage. The costume contest winner, Mr. Fizzles himself. How are fans so amazing?

Various and sundry versions of Ash, Meg, Ruby, Cas, LARPing Winchesters, Charlie, and Dean with his pants down (“Pudding!”) show off their fannish creativity.

Cosplaying the Metallicar = awesome.

Below, Ty Olsson enjoys a beverage onstage. And nearly makes us cry with his first ever panel, which was both amusing and surprisingly touching. *sniffle*

Ty brought a little boy named after Jensen onstage to meet “big Jensen”. All together now: “Awwwww”

Another of those quintessential SPN con moments – a vampire reunion! AlphaVamp Rick Worthy joins reluctant vampire Benny (Ty) onstage. Rick wasn’t even appearing at the con – he just showed up. Much like surprise Kurt Fuller at karaoke, which threw one of our friends into paroxysms of joy. Literally.

Next up: Mark Sheppard holds court. This guy is so damn quick, half the time he’s moved on to the next question and we’re still figuring out the witty thing he just said. So not complaining.

Below, Mark takes over as drummer for the Elastic Waste Band. Can you tell by the smile on his face how much he was enjoying it? Rest assured there were matching grins all through the auditorium.

Mark searches his phone for the Jim Beaver kiss photo he still keeps there. Followed by his gleefully sharing it with fans. Fans cheer. Somewhere backstage, Jim rolls his eyes.

Take a bow! Emcee Richard Speight Jr and the Elastic Waste Band sign off after an amazing weekend.

Viva Las Vegas!

We caught up with Richard after the festivities were over to talk about the weekend. From both the fan side and the guest side, everyone agreed that this was one of the best cons ever. Having Richard emcee and the band onstage meant there was no down time at all, so the energy level stayed off the charts throughout the three days. The guests appreciated this as much as the fans did — and both sides had a blast! Now that we all know how much fun it is to have a con like this, can you put the toothpaste back in the tube? We hope not!

Fabulous pics and captions. I am so disappointed I never found your room to meet you. I will have to order your book online. Although I probably didn’t have room to bring it back anyway!

It was my first con, but many vets said it was the best ever. As did Richard when I spoke with him briefly Sunday evening. He said I had started at the TOP!

I can’t properly put into words what it was like. I fell more in love with the show and the cast. They are so willing to spend time with the fans it is unbelievable. I spent the last night in the bar/restaurant with Ty Olsson and some other fans. (There Friday evening too after he registered) I so adored talking with him. If they kill Benny off now I will surely sob for hours!😦

I’m with you regarding Ty’s panel, but he did bring some tears to my eyes. I work in a shelter that has foster kids. He so touched my heart. I talked with him briefly about that in a long walk back to the convention center with him and his ‘handler’. I could say more, but I want to respect his privacy. Suffice it to say I am an even bigger Ty fan than before. I could talk with him for hours.

Actually I think I could talk with any of the cast for hours. Some of the cast I didn’t think I’d be all that thrilled to meet were some of the best surprise panels!!! They are truly the most incredible people. Sorry, I could go on for paragraphs. Just wanted to make a couple of comments.

This was my first con and I thought it was super fun, confusing, crazy, and awesome. I brought my husband along who thought it was going to be lame, but he really like the Q&A panels and was impressed with all of them. I just love the damn show even more than ever now.

Fan Phenomena: Supernatural on Amazon

Fangasm on Amazon

Fandom at the Crossroads on Amazon

Fan Culture: Theory/Practice on Amazon

Our Story

This is the story of two college professors who fell hard for a show called Supernatural. Obsession, devotion, fascination, call it what you will. We decided to figure out what was going on with us by writing a book on fandom from the fans' perspective. As academics do, we hit the libraries and internet, accumulating stacks of articles and hundreds of pages of research. We typed and revised and theorized, quoted and footnoted, and ended up with an academic text crammed full of the current scholarship on fandom.

This is not that book.

Somewhere along the line, the research took a back seat to the road trip as we traveled across the US and Canada interviewing the show’s fans, as well as the actors and directors, writers, journalists, bloggers, convention organizers, significant others and insignificant hangers-on. Fangasm! is the story of that year-long roadtrip -- the surprises we never saw coming, the secrets uncovered, the behind-the-scenes insights, the heartwarming and heartbreaking fan confessions. It’s also the story of our shared obsession and the friendship that sustains us through 4 am line-ups, overtaxed credit cards, canceled flights and airport camp-outs, and of course the occasional accusations of insanity.

Order Fangasm now from Amazon by clicking the link at the top of this page.

Media Coverage

Check out the February 2016 issue of Nylon Magazine - we're quoted in an article about fandom!

What Else We’re Writing

We've written several articles for Supernatural Magazine, including features on the fan convention experience, and behind the scenes on the set. We have also written the academic version of this story, Fandom at the Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships , and edited a collection on fan culture, Fan Culture: Theory/Practice.
You can also order our book Fan Phenomena: Supernatural, with chapters by cast, crew and fans of Supernatural. Check out what Misha Collins and Richard Speight, Jr. have to say in their insightful (and amusing) chapters. Click the links at the top of the page to order.

And coming in May 2017, look for an exciting new book - Family Don't End With Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Changed Lives with powerful chapters by ten Supernatural actors including Jared Padalecki!

Kathy is also the Principal Editor and Lynn on the Editorial Board of The Journal Of Fandom Studies, published by Intellect. The most recent issue is available now.